What happened to your musical ambitions?

What are your goals?  Do you still have any? Are you trying to achieve commercial success?  Mine have been on hold for such a long time!

My goals have always been pretty simple - i just wanted to be able to make music which had all the types of sounds i liked from various artists rolled in to one sound i could sort of call my own. So, Depeche Mode mixed with the Beatles and the Doors, with some rock thrown in.
Never considered it going anywhere further than the 4 walls of my spare room, so the few listens it gets on the net is great.
Have never played live; doubt i ever will. I wouldn't know where to begin sending it for commercial opportunities - don't think it's really that type of music.
One goal i do have though is to write a song and have a band play it live - just so i can hear what it would sound like. Not a famous band or anything - just any old band, jamming in their garage or whatever. That would be great. So, if any of you are in a band and want to make a dream come true....................

Ambition's a funny thing isn't it?

I'm a bit schizophrenic in this regard. Partly, I just want to write world-class songs. Sometimes I fancy myself as the writer of a song like "Feeling Good" or one of those great American songbook songs, even though none of my songs are remotely like that!

But another part of me is hungry for recognition. Writing a brilliant song may be one thing, but part of me wants everyone (or enough people) to know it!

So in reality, I try to strike a happy medium. I'm realistic enough to know I'm unlikely to ever get a review in Q magazine, let alone write the next bong theme. But the occasional live performance does lift my spirits.

One goal i do have though is to write a song and have a band play it live - just so i can hear what it would sound like.

sounds pretty cool that one!


for me just to keep playing guitar and getting better... and try and write some decent tunes for meself! maybe one day get me loft done out and get a better recording set up but one ambition would be to get a 10 track cd of me own songs fully produced just in terms of doing something really!

I would love  recognition,fame  & be wealthy  & have a huge following  limos,private jets, fans the whole works...but at the same time   I  write compose & create  as its a release  from  inside,kind of  letting  something out. I also like the idea of legacy  & leaving something behind   as  songs  will no doubt  outlive me.
                  I want  to make people  feel  emotion,pain,sensitivity  as a blend of both words & music....All my songs are
not  pessimistic....there are some light & fun sounding ones too!  
                           Finally  I lost my dad......but sure would like to make my  mum  proud of me     Stylus

I had to think about this for a while, and i think for me making music as a hobby is enough, because it is a way to have fun, so more like a hobby next to the day job, and it relaxing to work on music in whatever form

Not that i would strongly object the fame, wealth and limos and all that Stylus is mentioning  but it is not really what is driving me, music making is fun to do, it is relaxing, one can express some things in music (get them off your chest), that is what keeps me going on with it. On Tone's forum i compared it with other hobbies, some people go running, or skying or swimming or start collecting something, because it relaxes them, and i rather spend my time with music

a while ago i had some 'interest' from a publisher, but it turned out that they send you tehse so-called "briefs" requesting for a very specific musistyle. So they request for a style (and send samples of songs in that style and sometimes even give the exact BPM it should be in, or the type of instrumentation / instruments that fit that style.....i sat down to try one of these, and within an hour i realised i am not good at it, but it also felt completely clashing with making music for fun as a hobby. If i want to turn the BPM up, i turn it up, and i use the sounds and instruments i choose and fit my mood  With these restrictions it felt like working right away, so i gave up right away (not that my projecdt was going to be any good if i didn't)



 

I'd say that my musical ambition lacks commitment/direction at the moment. 

I don't think there's any real mystery about crafting a decent song - if you've been writing long enough and know how to disect/analyse established  songs, then it's fairly easy to have a decent stab at writing your own. In fact, I think it's quite enjoyable to analyse and use established structures/rhyming schemes and production techniques.   For me, the trick is to do this but also impart something of yourself -  your own unique thoughts and emotions.  I suppose that's what I do.  I'm never really dissapointed with my writing other than a little frustrated about my vocal range  - no desire to be famous at all (wouldn't mind a cash windfall that would enable me to explore my potential and allow me to express my ideas further).  I think as bedroom musicians, we're unlikely to record something truly unique - the magic often happens when a group of musicians record together, each bringing something different to the table. However, it's hard to find disciplined musicians who care about the song more than they do their own individual part. 

I was so happy when my son, who is eleven years old told me he had no desire to be famous.  He told me that he just wants to be normal (whatever that is). I guess he feels loved and cared for. - makes me feel that I've been succesful as a father. He obviously feels loved and doesn't crave any further attention.  A bit off topuc I suppose but I think there's a link to the initial question.   

well said dutchbeat!

Good thread!

And kind of a hard to answer question...

My goal is to one day complete a full album, just so that I can have the pretty jewel case collect dust on a shelf somewhere, and for me to know: I did that.

Commercial success is not for me, I think: quite sure I wouldn't like fame and glory.
On the other hand, I think most of us here crave at least a bit of attention for our music (after all, what is the point of music, if it is not being listened to? I know I'm contradicting my point above, but well  )

For now, just enjoying the process of making music itself and playing it to a selected few people is working well for me